The Pop Surrealism Of Emmy Lincoln (AKA ItchySoul).

above: In 'The deeply misunderstood friendly Shiphugger', ItchySoul has added a giant octopus and water details atop a found vintage oil painting of a classic clipper ship.

Sweden-born artist Emmy Lincoln, who goes by the artist moniker ItchySoul, creates imaginative lowbrow artwork by up-cycling flea market finds such as old oil paintings, antique photos and old book covers as well as creating her own original acrylic works.


above left: acrylic body art painting upon a 1922 book cover (Snovit) and acrylic demons painted atop a vintage 1917 Budapest photo of a one year old Hungarian boy (Ferike).

Inspired by sci-fi, fairytales, animé, toys and all things kitsch, this is her way of paying tribute to the unknown or forgotten artist. She sees her paintings as "stories yet to be told."

Here are more of her wonderful pieces.

The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one, he said (acrylics atop a vintage landscape painting):

Mermaid and Alligator (original acrylic painting in vintage frame):

Neon Menace (painting and wax seal atop an IKEA printed canvas):

Piggy's Big Day Out (acrylics atop an antique landscape oil painting):

When I Was A Young Fawn (acrylics atop a vintage oil painting):

detail:

The Good Girl (spirits in acrylics painted on 1915 Hungarian photograph):

Forest Mushroom Dwellers (acrylics on plywood) and Visiting (acrylics on canvas):

Friends (Acrylic triptych on canvas):


About the artist:


Born in 1980, Emmy grew up as a middle child in the tiny village Dösjebro. She was constantly drawing on things and her friends and family always encouraged her to. Both her grandmother Berit who was a map drawer and painter, and her mom Yvonne who is a ceramic artist, were great inspirations for her growing up.

After finishing high school in 1999 Emmy traveled for a few years and had stray jobs in hospitality in London, Tokyo and Sydney. She ended up studying graphic design at the Enmore Design Center, Sydney. Then followed internships at design studio Campbell Barnett and ad agency Arnold Australia.

Since returning to Sweden in 2005 Emmy is working as a Visual Designer in the mobile phone industry and is currently freelancing under company name ItchySoul AB.

Emmy lives in Malmö with her boyfriend Mattias where they share a cozy music- and art studio. Her debut art exhibition was at the No White Walls 43 gallery in Malmö in May 2013, where her quirky mash-up paintings were very appreciated by the audience.

all images courtesy and copyright of the artist

See more of her fun work here.

Technicolor Twinkle Toes. Embroidery on Vintage Photos of Dancers.

Now living and working in Berlín, Chilean-born Jose Romussi formally studied landscape design when growing up, but over the past few years has gained a significant following for his screen prints and collages in which he combines vintage black and white photographs with colorful forms of embroidery.



In this series, Dance, the supernatural power of dancers and their poses and movements inspire him with their precision and elegance. Romussi brings these pictures back to life with bright vibrant colors, underlining the dynamic of these frozen movements. With each new line of embroidery he invites the viewer to dream with him and to experience each subject's hidden vitality.












Artist Jose Romussi at work:


See more of Jose's unusual work here

Mad For Ads? Taschen Publishes New Book on Ads from the Mad Men Era

Gleaned from thousands of images, this companion set of books offers the best of American print advertising in the age of the “Big Idea.” At the height of American consumerism magazines were flooded with clever campaigns selling everything from girdles to guns.






These optimistic indicators paint a fascinating picture of the colorful capitalism that dominated the spirit of the 1950s and 60s, as concerns about the Cold War gave way to the carefree booze-and-cigarettes Mad Men era.





Also included is a wide range of significant advertising campaigns from both eras, giving insight into the zeitgeist of the time. Bursting with fresh, crisp colors, these ads have been digitally mastered to look as bright and new as the day they first hit newsstands.




The editor:
Cultural anthropologist and graphic design historian Jim Heimann is Executive Editor for TASCHEN America, and author of numerous books on architecture, pop culture, and the history of the West Coast, Los Angeles, and Hollywood. His unrivaled private collection of ephemera has been featured in museum exhibitions around the world and dozens of books.

The contributing author:
Steven Heller is the co-chair of the School of Visual Arts MFA Designer as Author Program. For 33 years he was an art director for The New York Times, and currently writes the "Visuals" column for The New York Times Book Review. He is the author of 120 books on graphic design, illustration, and satiric art.

Mid-Century Ads: Advertising from the Mad Men Era
Jim Heimann, Steven Heller
Hardcover, 2 vols. in slipcase, 9.4 x 13.2 in., 720 pages, msrp $59.99

Not yet released you can pre-order it for less from Amazon ($37.99) now by clicking on the link below:
Mid Century Ads: Advertising from the Mad Men Era (25)

In Memorium: Ethel Sweet (neé Weitz) 1911-2008

I suffered a personal loss today. And the world suffered the loss of one more artist.

My grandmother, Ethel, was an artist.
She wasn't a Georgia O'Keefe or a Grandma Moses. She merely painted for herself, her friends and local art shows her whole life. She garnered several first place and honorable mentions at local shows and growing up, my parents' home was filled with her artwork.

She spent countless hours sitting with me as a child teaching me how to 'draw' and always had fresh pencils, paints and paper ready and waiting upon our visits for me, my sisters and my cousins to play with. I couldn't wait to visit her, spend time with her and draw and paint to my hearts' content.

She never stopped painting until she simply couldn't do it anymore... and that was just a year ago at age 96. Just this year, 2008, her work was included in the Hyatt Classic Residence Artist Series.



She was married to my grandfather, Sol Sweet for over 60 years (he passed away in 1990 at age 85) and she was very close to her two sons, my uncle Bob and my father Larry, as well as her daughters-in-law and her 5 granddaughters and her great grandchildren.

She was Yoda-like in her wisdom. She spoke gently, but deliberately, and never judged people or was even the slightest bit catty. I don't think she ever once uttered anything remotely close to sarcasm. She often referred to her five granddaughters as 'cookie' or 'dolly'.

Always patient and kind, she made killer brownies and potato salad. She was the grandma who snuck me to the mall at age 13 to get my ears pierced, despite my dad's insistence that I not 'put holes in my ears.'

Despite being financially comfortable, she was never showy. She was modest in her dress and jewelry and didn't believe in spending money recklessly. She could have worn designer clothes and drove fancy cars, but she wasn't comfortable with that.

She liked beer, sourdough and candied ginger. She didn't like pictures of herself and bizarrely, never had any photos of herself in her homes.

Of all my family, she was the animal lover, the one who thoughtfully always asked about my dog (being her only granddaughter who didn't have children).

Being an 'artist' for a living made me feel a special kinship with her. But she was the type of woman who made each of her children and grandchildren feel that way. As if they each had a unique personal bond with her.

Her life in pictures:




She had a wonderful marriage to my grandfather Sol, for over 60 years:



Below: with my father, the eldest of her two boys



And in recent years:

above: July 2004

above: last summer, June, 2007

As an artist, she actually began her career doing advertising illustrations for department stores that ran in newspapers, so you could say she was the first 'art director' I ever knew.
She painted with oils and acrylics as well and in her later years became an adept water colorist.

Some of her early work:

Golden Gate Bridge, 1967

Honorable Mention winner, 1967

As she aged, she continued to send me handmade cards for my birthday and the holidays. Even last year, I received a handmade hand painted birthday card:



Incredibly talented until her final days, my gran even taught watercolor at her Senior Living home until her early 90s. And her work, shown below, was used on holiday cards printed by Hyatt Senior Residence at La Jolla.



I will forever have a hole in my heart now.
She will be greatly missed. And the world will be a little less colorful.